Turkish Airlines' flight attendants won't be covered, company says

Turkish Airlines, or THY, air hostesses will not be permitted to wear headscarves while on the job, the company said late Tuesday, denying earlier reports to the contrary.

Turkish Airlines, or THY, air hostesses will not be permitted to wear headscarves while on the job, the company said late Tuesday, denying earlier reports that flight attendants would be permit to cover themselves.

“All of our personnel serving our passengers will continue to wear their uniforms, which were designed in accordance with THY’s corporate image, in the future in the same fashion that they wore them in the past,” the company said in a statement.

THY recently released an updated dress code for its employees in which the clause stating that “hair will always be worn uncovered” was removed. The news led some media organs such as the secularist daily Cumhuriyet to herald the coming of “headscarved hostesses at THY.”

Hava-İş, a union of the airline’s employees, has been upset by the THY’s changes, the union’s head, Atilla Ayçin, told daily Radikal.

“We have not understood why such a change was made all of a sudden,” he said, adding that since the change was made roughly three weeks ago, the union had noticed more headscarved female employees wearing wigs to work.